Live updates: Firefighters race to contain wildfires in France and Spain | CNN

Over 250,000 residents in these countries have been forced to evacuate. Fires are also burning in other parts of Europe. Follow for live updates.

• Mass evacuations: French authorities issued new evacuation orders and firefighters in Spain are battling to prevent two blazes near Madrid from merging, as wildfires tear through southwest Europe. More than 250,000 people have been evacuated in these countries. At least one person has died in Valencia.

• Across Europe: While the fires in France and Spain have been among the worst, other parts of the continent were ablaze this week, including Germany, Italy and the UK. CNN is tracking the fire activity here.

• Blazing heat: The wildfires are happening after France and Germany reported their hottest ever days last month. Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing more than twice as fast as the global average.

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Temperatures in France and Spain show no sign of easing, holding steady on Sunday and expected to soar as high as 42 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Fahrenheit) next week, according to local meteorologists.

Forecasts indicate no rain in Spain’s Ávila and Madrid regions, or in France’s Gironde region, which have been ravaged by wildfires in recent days.

Madrid: Forecasters predict highs today of 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit) for the region, similar to yesterday, and clear, sunny skies. Temperatures are set to rise in the coming days, reaching 39 C on Wednesday. Wind speeds could reach up to 20 kilometers per hour. No rain is expected until Thursday, when there is only a 5% chance, according to Spain’s state meteorological agency AEMET.

Ávila: Residents can expect highs of 27 degrees Celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit) on Sunday, rising to 35 C on Tuesday and Wednesday. Sunday’s wind speeds are forecast to reach up to 15 km/h and rain forecasts match those of Madrid.

Bordeaux: Highs of 27 degrees Celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit) with clear skies and occasional clouds Sunday, according to the official Météo-France forecast. Winds may reach up to 20 km/h, and there is a zero percent chance of rain. Temperatures are set to climb as high as 42 C by Wednesday, the website shows.

Spain and France are among the hardest-hit areas as wildfires rip through southwest Europe. Hundreds of thousands of residents have been evacuated as firefighters battle to contain the blazes.

Track the fire activity in Europe here.

Huge wildfires are ripping across parts of Europe, fueled partly by climate change-driven heat waves.

Hundreds of thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate some of the hardest-hit areas in France and Spain, while wildfires also rage in parts of Italy and the UK. At least one person in Valencia, Spain, has died.

The wildfires in France and Spain are unrelenting, with over 250,000 evacuees. That number seems to be increasing, as the fires continue to spread and authorities in France order more evacuations.

The fires come amid record-breaking heatwaves on the continent.

Last month, France and Germany both recorded their hottest-ever days. Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures rising more than twice as fast as the global average.

Communities uprooted: More than 250,000 people have been evacuated in France and Spain as wildfires sweep southwest Europe. Families and the elderly are among those waiting in shelters for word on when they might return home. The fires have spread thick smoke and disrupted daily life, including at the Tour de France.

All hands on deck: In Spain, firefighters are working to prevent two fires near Madrid from merging. French authorities issued new evacuation orders in Gironde late Saturday as around 30 fires burned simultaneously in the southwest, with thousands of personnel deployed to contain them.

Aid comes in: Germany’s leader announced aid for French regions affected by the wildfires, and Spanish media reported teams from Greece, Italy and Portugal were helping to fight the blazes.

Elsewhere in Europe: Other parts of Europe were ablaze this week, including in Germany, Italy, Romania and the UK. CNN is mapping the fire activity.

What officials are saying: France’s prime minister warned that the coming hours “may be difficult” as conditions change on the ground. Spain’s interior minister echoed the concern, saying that “the night is not going to be easy” and weather conditions “have not helped at all,” according to Spanish media.

CNN’s Pierre Bairin and Tori B. Powell contributed reporting.

The wildfires in parts of Spain and France have been among the most devastating, but they are far from the only blazes burning in Europe right now. Here’s a zoomed-out look at fire activity this week:

As wildfires burn west of Bordeaux, one of France’s most famous wine-producing regions, concerned oenophiles have called wine expert Nicolle Croft to voice concern over the fate of 2026 vintage.

“A lot of people are contacting me from around the world hearing all these terrible stories, but actually the vineyards are not impacted at the moment,” Croft, a tour guide based in Bordeaux, told CNN. “But we’re all very upset because there are people losing homes.”

Croft said at this time of year, the grapes aren’t yet large enough to absorb wildfire smoke – a phenomenon known in winemaking as “smoke taint.”

“We won’t be harvesting until the beginning of September,” Croft said, “so there’s still time.”

Dr. Phil Crews, a winemaker and chemist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, explained that unripe grapes aren’t as vulnerable to smoke taint. Young grapes lack sugars that would otherwise bind with bitter-tasting phenols in wildfire smoke.

Firefighters in the eastern Castellón province of Spain shared video of the leaping flames they’re facing as they work to extinguish one of the blazes ripping through parts of Europe this weekend.

In a post on X, fire officials shared video from the town of La Vall d’Uixó and urged residents not to try to access the area.

Two hundred thousand people have been evacuated from their homes in France’s Gironde and Landes regions as wildfires continue to burn out of control. Around 7,000 are being sheltered at a massive exhibition center in Bordeaux, which is itself shrouded in smoke carried into the city by shifting winds.

People taking shelter at the center include retirement home evacuees and many families with children.

Many of those now sleeping on cots with their children and pets were woken in their homes west of Bordeaux in the early hours of Friday by emergency text alerts on their phones, telling them to evacuate immediately.

They have no prospect of returning home anytime soon.

At a nearby folding table, Christophe explained how he was first woken by the emergency alert, before police officers climbed over his wall at 6 a.m. and banged on his door. He insisted on checking on his neighbors, both well into their nineties, but, he explained, that took time.

“I had a bag ready,” he said, “but they had nothing prepared, so we had to gather their belongings and their medication because they’re diabetic.”

Christophe is impressed by the logistics of what officials describe as the largest evacuation France has seen since World War II.